Karma
by MidnightOpal
Summary: One night, Rei is the recipient of a disturbing dream and wakes up with a tattoo of riddled Lunarian on her stomach as well as a bizarre map to a mysterious world. She's told that, to save all hope, she must open the gates for the queen of hell.
1. Riddled Pursuer

**Karma**

_**Chapter one: Riddled Pursuer**_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own anything in this story but the story line itself.

Complete Summary: One night, Rei is the recipient of a disturbing dream and wakes up with a tattoo of riddled Lunarian on her stomach as well as a bizarre map to a mysterious world. When she receives a strange box, she, Makoto and Ami are transported to the mysterious land, while Minako and Mamoru stay to guard Usagi on Earth, and are told that, to save all hope, they must open the gates for the queen of hell.

……………………………….

Hino Rei tapped her tennis shoes quickly upon the fading hallway carpet in disdain. Her despise soon turned to worry as the door to the apartment in front of her had yet to be opened. She knocked harder again, looking around behind her, feeling as if somebody had followed her here. Looking at her watch she grimaced at the digital numerals that read '3:05 a.m.', and turned to look back at the door in front of her. "Come on…" she whispered, looking behind her once again, where she could see the moon through a window at the end of the hallway. Somehow, the satellites illumination that usually gave her strength seemed to diminish amongst the shadows of the city below and the sinking feeling within her stomach. "I know it's late, but come on… I know you're in there…" she whispered again, the prickling on the back of her neck getting stronger and stronger.

She raised her fist to knock again when a sleepy looking girl in boxers and an oversized t-shirt opened her door, almost ending up the recipient of a rap on the head. Rubbing her eyes and yawning, the girl held the door open and spoke groggily. "Rei-chan, what—" her sentence was cut short as the dark haired girl in front of her shoved her way in quickly and slammed the door shut, immediately slapping an offuda onto it above the peep hole. Chanting a few words she grabbed her friends hand and pulled her over to her sofa, all but shovingher down onto the plush seating.

"What the hell are you—,"

"Mako-chan," she was cut off as Rei walked back over to her door and locked it, as well as walking over to her windows to make sure that they too were locked. She left one unlocked."I don't have long to explain, and we'll need to leave as soon as possible when I'm done," she said as she glanced nervously, yet almost expectantly, at the door, hoping no sounds would emit from behind it. However, the feeling of someone, or rather _something_, following her was too strong for her mind to merely overlook. This gained her friend's full attention, as she was now beginning to see that Rei was not fooling around.

Makoto had never seen Rei so jittery, she'd always been theone to be calm and composed in a time of crisis. Seeing her eyes pivot from the windows to her door in constant anxiety caused worry to clench at the brunettes stomach. "Rei-chan… w…what is going on?" Rei turned and looked directly at Makoto and frowned. She was loosing her usual cool composure. Taking a slow breath in, and exhaling evenly she felt her bouncing nerves begin to subside.

Taking off her coat, a protection from the night's chilly air, she placed it on the coffee table in front of Makoto and began. "If you're wondering why I came to you first, rather than consulting Usagi about what's going on, it's because you're the easiest to reach, you live alone," Rei tried to mask the harshness in her voice, knowing that the subject was touchy for her fellow Senshi, but saw no sign of hurt from the girl sitting in front of her, who merely blinked like a lost puppy, completely confused. "I can't get into Ami's penthouse unnoticed, and Usagi and Minako sleep like logs." Her tone seemed to become monotonous at the mention of their princess and leader. "I would have gone to Ami because she has her computer, and at this moment it's what I direly need, but I had a feeling that you'd be able to help me the most with whatever's following me." Makoto looked up at her in utter bewilderment.

Breathing out a quick breath, Rei began to explain before Makoto could interrupt her. "For the past few weeks I've been getting bad vibes. With these random Youma that have been showing up from Galaxia's last attack and the tear in the dimensional time stream I figured it was nothing but a silly mishap." Makoto opened her mouth to ask something but Rei cut her off by holding up her hand.

"When Usagi defeated Galaxia, there was a tear in the time stream, Setsuna explained it to me, and I don't have time to explain it to you now." Running a hand through her hair she continued, "I've been getting sloppy in my assumptions," she reprimanded herself. Rei finally gave herself the incentive to sit down. "But then, the feelings began to get stronger and stronger and I knew that it couldn't just be the normal Youma. It's strange, these aren't like the normal vibes I receive. Usually they come quick and I can feel them in the back of my mind. But these…" Rei clasped her hands nervously in front of her and looked out a window just behind Makoto. "These ones come strong and they don't leave. They leave me with headaches for hours on end, which are so strong they even make me vomit."

Bouncing her leg out of jittery nerves, Rei found that she couldn't sit anymore and stood, her eyes never once looking towards her friend sitting in front of her. "Then last night," she continued, "I had a dream, and I still don't get it. I was in a vast white space, yet I could somehow walk on the ground. In front of me were about four angels huddled together, moving over something that I couldn't see very well. I walked closer and one of the angels turned to look at me." Rei's knees began to feel weak and she sat down as she ran her fingers through her long hair once again. "It had fangs like a vampire and its mouth was completely covered in blood. They were feasting, Mako-chan, and they were feasting on a person." Taking a shaky breath in, she looked over to her long time friend. "They were eating _Usagi._"

Makoto's eyes scrunched in sadness and worry. _Eating _Usagi? She looked at Rei with pity but the look soon diminished when she remembered that Rei hated to be regarded with pity. It was just hard to see a friend receive grotesque visions that would most likely plague her mind day in and day out. Standing up she walked over to the miko and sat in front of her, grasping her hands in her own and urging her to go on at the same time.

"I walked up to them and they continued to gnaw away at her flesh while I turned away and vomited. Gathering up my courage, knowing that it was merely a dream, I stood tall and stared down at Usagi's mangled flesh. Holding back the urge to vomit again I was completely caught off guard when her eyes opened. Only," Rei stopped for a moment, staring at nothingness while she tried to find the right words.

When she didn't continue for a few moments Makoto got up the courage to ask her friend if she wanted any tea. Waving her hand, Rei politely refused. "I would love some, however, I'm dillydallying enough, and we're losing minutes as I speak." Giving a sigh she continued.

"Only she had no eyes, only black voids of… nothingness. Her lips curved up into a twisted sneer and she spoke to me. _Do you like my new body, Rei-chan? _She asked me. I didn't know how to respond. I merely gaped at her as she turned her head to the side and groaned, as if she were in ecstasy. She then complimented the angels on the job of devouring her body and that's when I noticed two puncture wounds on the side of her neck. I know it may sound weird, but I don't think that they were from a vampire; at least not a normal one.

Then, Usagi and the angels seemed to pull away from me and they disappeared farther and farther away from my sight. I did what any one of us would have done in a situation like that: I ran after her. Only, with two steps taken, the vast white area changed to that of black. Then all of a sudden a gate appeared in front of me with one man guarding it. It was extremely tall and covered in what looked like soot. I had jagged tips and prickly vines snaked their way up and around the bars. Locking it was a huge padlock with three holes in it, each smaller than the other. Now, the thing guarding it was hardly a man. With sharp, yellowing horns and a pale white face I could decipher only that it was something in an Oni mask. However," Rei bit one of her nails as she spoke, "it was garbed as if a Shinobi in disguise and carried the customary gnarled club of an Oni.

Anyway, his head lifted and he looked directly at me. Then, oddly enough, he bowed to me on one knee and merely pushed the gate open, saying, _Welcome Princess Mars, Aino awaits you._"

Makoto interrupted. "Aino, as in the goddess of fire?"

Rei nodded and continued. "That's what I'm guessing. When the gate opened completely I… I saw Usagi-chan chained to a cross, only this time she was hardly as demonic as the last time I'd seen her. This was the real Usagi. Only thing is, she was being burned, her angels dancing around her crying, '_Witch, witch, burn witch!_' Completely disregarding the strange Oni or Shinobi or whatever it was I ran into the gates as Usagi cried out in pain from the flames licking her skin. Only when I got closer could I see that there was something written on her arms. Carved into her skin was Lunarian writing." Rei grimaced as she remembered how tortured and hurt her princess had looked. "With Usagi's last scream, my dream faded away."

Makoto looked up slowly and grabbed onto Rei's hands once again. "Rei-chan, I—."

"I'm not quite done yet, Mako-chan," Rei said as she stood up from her friends' couch and gripped the bottom of her t-shirt. "When I woke up, I had this," pulling up her shirt, Rei frowned at her friends gasp and looked away. "It won't come off."

Written on her stomach, in black curvilinear writing, were Lunarian words. "From what little Lunarian I can remember, which is why I need Ami's computer, it says something like:

_Feed the immortal fire with the strength of three. Those bound by one hope, and cursed by one fate shall enter the gates of hell. Gone awry is your path then creators shall create and destroyers shall destroy. 'Cross candle lit lands led by dual scythe moons, trusting one, and trusted by none. Through threads of time and wines of silk, your guardian shall help from afar. The words of the ages shall be the portal for the one adorned with pure blood. Unlock the gates for the queen of hell and all hope shall be released."_

"What the hell…?" Makoto trailed off, almost laughing at the irony in her own words.

"And that's not even it," reaching into her pocket, Rei pulled out a small scroll of what seemed to be parchment. Untying the blood red ribbon around it she handed the roll to Makoto, who opened it and frowned deeply. "I found it next to my bed when I woke up tonight around 2:30. It's a map. I'm not sure what of, but I'm guessing it's going to lead us to the gates of hell." Receiving no response from her friend, Rei looked down and stared worriedly at her as Makoto held the map as if it were going to burn her skin.

With her fingers so loose on the parchment, the Senshi of Jupiter let it slip between them to the ground in front of her. Pulling in a shaky breath she kept her eyes fast to the map in front of her. "Rei-chan…" she began as she held out a finger and traced a path as depicted on the parchment, "would it seem odd to you if I told you…" Picking up the map and rolling it back up, she held the scroll out to her long haired friend, and Rei got a glimpse of fear and anxiety within Makoto's eyes.

"Told me what?" Rei chided, placing a hand on Makoto's shoulder as she looked back down at the map and frowned deeply. What could she possibly have to tell her?

Makoto seemed reluctant that the words had come out of her mouth but looked up and explained herself anyway. "Would it seem odd to you that this map is extremely familiar to me?"

………………………….

Aino is the Japanese goddess of fire. She, however, with be changed by me within the storyline.

MidnightOpal


	2. Mila a Renos

**Karma**

_**Chapter two: Mila a Renos**_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own anything in this story but the story line itself.

Rei's eyes widened in shock and she blinked quickly as her mouth almost dropped open in astonishment. "W-well yes," she replied honestly. "It would."

Makoto opened her mouth to explain herself when there was a loud bang on her door. Both Senshi turned towards the door, and then looked back towards each other, a look of understanding crossed between them. It was obvious that it was not a knock, but someone was trying to brake through the barricade.

"My offuda won't hold it off for much longer," she whispered as she glanced back towards the door, worriedly. "Quick," she said, "grab your wand and communicator."

Nodding, the brunette tiptoed silently away and disappeared into her room. The insistent banging continued and the door began to shake harder, the hinges coming loose and the offuda losing its power. When the Senshi of Jupiter still had yet to return, Rei got angry. "Mako-chan!" she cried out in a strangled whisper. "Hurry up!" Makoto soon reappeared with her wand, communicator and three pieces of paper.

Not having enough time to ask her why she was holding three pieces of paper, Rei unlocked a nearby window and crawled through, landing safely on the rusty fire escape stairs below, mentally thanking Makoto that she owned no screens. Holding her hand out, she began to help Makoto out of the window when she heard a resounding 'crack!' signifying that whatever had been chasing her finally broke through her offuda and the door.

Makoto looked back and instantly regretted it as the bottom of her door flew directly at her face. Reacting quickly, she ducked and the door rammed into the window she'd been crawling out of, immediately shattering all of the glass and whatever support Makoto had sustained from leaning against it. Covering her face from the bits of shattered glass surrounding her, Makoto fell to the stairs below her, wincing as small, meaningless shards of glass broke her skin.

Remembering that somebody was still after them, she stood quickly and grabbed Rei's hand, which had just completed the placement of an offuda on the crumbling brick edifice of Makoto's domicile. Pulling, she began to run _up _the stairwell and disregard the pounding of her heart as well as the front door of her apartment, which now lay in splinters four floors below her. Rei yanked her hand away and began to bound up the steps two at a time, leaving Makoto to run behind her and follow her lead.

"Why the hell are we going _up_!" Rei cried angrily down to Makoto, who grunted out her disapproval of Rei's harshness. If they were trying to escape some evil force following them, why would they try to run up, where they would eventually be cornered?

Growling, Makoto responded. "Because, a) going to the ground would endanger people, whereas these stairs lead to the roof, and b) it would reveal the fact that we're fucking Sailor Senshi to half of the people that are already awake from hearing my door be thrown through my goddamned window!" She screamed as they reached the puddle filled roof, damp with the early days' rain.

"Well do you think the people in America didn't hear you, Mako-chan?" Rei snapped acerbically as she pulled out her henshin wand and was about to call out her five magical words. Before she could even utter one phrase, whatever had been chasing them burst through the roof mere inches away from where they were standing. The two were sent careening into the steel fence-like barricade that prevented them from falling to their almost certain deaths. Quickly they covered their faces as drywall and debris showered down on them.

Coughing and shoving off bits debris, the two Senshi rose quickly and stood at a ready stance, waiting for the dust to settle from their pursuers' unexpected entrance. Thinking their attacker was hiding from them, Makoto's eyes swiveled left and right, up and down, trying to sense where he was. Rei's eyes, however, remained stead fast in front of her, knowing that whatever had followed her to Makoto's apartment was not moving. She'd had a faint idea of what it was, but seeing it in person made her heart leap with both fear and anticipation.

The cloud of dust settled and through the lights of the city below the two could see that, standing in front of them unperturbed, was what seemed to be a Shinobi wearing the mask of an Oni. With its menacing, pointed horns, colored with a disintegrating reddish-gold paint, and its ostensibly grinning gold teeth, Rei was officially disturbed. It wasn't only the way that the mask was constructed that disturbed her, but rather the fact that the mask was an odd, dark reddish-brown color, that looked all too much like dried blood. The fact that the mask was not completely colored with it only confirmed her suspicions. When this Oni, Shinobi, demon, whatever the hell he was, killed a victim, he marked himself with their blood. Wherever this thing came from, the process was most likely a symbol of their stature; whoever was covered in the most blood was likely to be the strongest and most formidable enemy.

He wore clothing of dark blue that seemed the blend with the vary shadows that enveloped him. His shirt was loose around his chest, but dipped into a tighter fixture around his midsection. Wrapped around his stomach were two small silver buckles, holding the cloth tight. From the V of his loose shirt, and from the short, extremely baggy sleeves, the two Senshi could see a tight black material that enveloped his entire body like a second skin, displaying his hauntingly strong muscles. It snaked down his arms, around his chest, over the back of his head, and most likely over the face that was hidden behind the Oni mask. His dark blue clothing continued down from his midsection and turned looser around his legs, where the pants eventually tapered off into black, thin boots with a split toe, that were virtually tabi. Small gloves covered his hands, which eventually ran up his arms until they stopped at his elbows. His arms seemed to hang so low that his fingers brushed the ground as he crouched like a deranged monkey and sized them up. He stared at them as if they were cookies just waiting to be devoured. To Makoto, he looked extremely like Hannya, from the Rurouni Kenshin TV show she watched.

Slowly, the Senshi of Jupiter took the three pieces of paper that she held in her hand and placed them inside of her small boxers, hoping that she wouldn't lose them. The thing looked towards her and tipped its head to the side, as if analyzing what she had just put away. What frightened Makoto most was when the thing began to chuckle. It then looked directly at her face. Her breath caught in her throat and their pursuer spoke to her.

"You," he said, standing straight, catching the two Senshi completely off guard. Abandoning his crouched position, the thing stood taller than six feet; and that wasn't even his complete height, as his shoulders were still drooped from a seemingly hunched back. "You know of Mila a Renos?"

Taking a deep shaky breath, Makoto tried to mask her nervousness as she nodded slowly. The thing seemed to grin at her as she blinked. It moved with unfathomable speed and successfully pinned her neck to the ground with its hands, strangling her. With her air supply cut off so quickly, Makoto began to panic as her hands shot up to remove his strong hold on her neck. He hummed a grin as he stared at her reddening face with satisfaction. He hardly forgot about her companion as a white sneaker came flying at his face, which he caught with one dark blue hand easily. Giving her foot a slight turn, he seemed to shudder with happiness at the cry of pain from his left. Letting go of Rei's foot and turning back to his victim, who continued to claw fruitlessly at his arms, he began to reach down into her boxer shorts for three small pieces of paper.

When a punch came flying towards his face he blocked it easily, though was unhappy about having to part with the action at hand. What he hadn't expected, however, was the offuda scroll flying towards his arm that held off the brown haired girls' air supply. Breaking his contact with her skin, allowing Makoto to take a large gulp of much needed air, the thing allowed the offuda to fly harmlessly to the ground beside it. He then turned towards the Senshi of fire.

As quickly as when he had appeared in front of her friend, the thing in the Oni mask seemed to disappear then reappear right in Rei's face as he swung his arm towards her head. Acting on instinct, Rei ducked and rolled, realizing now how seriously strong their opponent was and how bad the predicament had become. That is, after she heard the metal bars behind her give in from the things' one punch.

She was in dire need of a transformation, her wand mere inches away from her hand. She could risk being identified as a Sailor Senshi, but the question was would she have enough time to dance in streams of magical fire, thus enabling her to become her stronger, more equipped self? Looking down at her obviously sprained ankle, Rei decided that the smarter path would be to transform, thus enabling her to fight to her full capacity.

However, Rei's contemplations got in the way as, without turning around, the thing swung its' leg out behind him and successfully connected with Rei's right cheek. Rei, still shocked from being kicked in the face, pulled herself together and rolled to the side, just missing being the victim of a severely smashed face as the roof where her head used to be almost disintegrated from the things' punch.

Standing quickly she was about to hop away from his incoming kick when the pain in her ankle made her hesitate, causing his foot to jam right into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. Falling to her knees, gripping her stomach in immense pain, Rei wondered where the hell Makoto was. It couldn't seriously take her that long to regain her breath.

Disregarding her thoughts about her friend, Rei stuck her hands out to catch a punch flying straight at her face, causing her to skid backwards from the force of it. She was again the recipient of a fabulous surprise when three small kunai like blades appeared above his knuckles and flew towards her face. Bending backwards, Rei's heart pounded in her chest as one blade missed her completely, one cut off a few strands of her hair, and one nicked her cheek, a small stream of blood now cascading down her neck. Flicking her wrist, two offuda scrolls appeared and she launched them at the strange thing.

Flipping backwards, the two offuda missed their target once again as the thing in the Oni mask strategically twisted his body in the air and landed without harm. When a foot connected with his back he knew that the other girl with the information on Mila a Renos had recovered from her previous strangled hold. He rolled to the ground and swung his leg out at her feet, successfully tripping her. Flipping back up, the thing stood in a fighting position as the two Senshi banded together.

Side by side, Makoto and Rei ran towards their foe; Rei ignoring the persistent pain in her ankle and Makoto ignoring the dull throb in her head. The thing seemed to grin as the two worked together to try and defeat him.

Rei ducked below Makoto's missed kick to its head and tried to land a punch in the things stomach, only to be blocked. Makoto then countered the parry that the thing was eager to throw that was sure to have left Rei with a broken nose. Reaching out her fist, Makoto landed a punch to his face and grimaced at how hard his mask was, reeling back from the pain in her fist. She hadn't even left a scratch. Realizing her mistake of letting her guard down too late, she received a kick to her knees, smashing into the ground head first, but rolling to the side as the things foot crushed the ground where her head had once been. It was now when she realized that neither she nor Rei were going to have any time to transform into their stronger selves. Oh how she wished they could use their powers when they weren't transformed.

While the things' foot was still standing where it had tried to crush Makoto's face, Rei reached out her good leg and kicked the back of his knee, causing him fall in a sort of kneeling position. The recognition struck her now more than it had when she had first laid eyes on it. This thing was almost exactly the same as the strange being in an Oni mask that she had seen in her dream, welcoming her into the gates of hell. Only the one in her dream wore a white mask, while this thing wore a mask covered in blood.

Her sudden understanding disappeared from her mind as Makoto barreled into her, causing the two of them to smash into the ground. A leg then proceeded to fly quickly above their bodies. Makoto, having enough strength in her legs and arms, performed a back handspring away from the things' next attack, while Rei merely rolled away, the pain in her leg overcoming the will inside her to perform fancy tricks to maneuver away from attacks.

Recognizing that Rei was tiring out, the thing ran towards her with inhuman speed. Gathering up what little strength she had, Rei forced her body to copy Makoto's maneuver and performed a back handspring away from his punch, despite her earlier thoughts. Trying to land on one foot, Rei grinned as she heard the sizzle of his skin. Not being able to land she fell to her bottom and stared out at her handy work. In the process of flipping away, she'd planted two offuda scrolls on the ground where his punch had landed. What seemed like blue electricity climbed up his arm as smoke began to rise from the limb. Looking directly at Rei he stood and shook off the offudas like they were nothing, however his arm was still slightly crackling with the power of her scrolls. Slowly he began to saunter towards her, disregarding Makoto's attack as he sent the Senshi of Jupiter flying into the metal bars beside Rei with one smack.

The two protectors tried to stand as the thing walked closer and closer, until it unexpectedly stopped about a meter away. Growling, it roared at them. "Pathetic," he spat as the two girls, huffing and puffing, stood in fighting stances with what little strength they had left. Pulling on the Katana at his side, the two saw a blur fly towards them and Rei knew that the sword was no katana. The thing had performed an old Shinobi trick. Inside of the katana sized saya was a chokuto blade with a katana sized handle. She didn't even look to her friend as she heard Makoto cry out in pain from the smaller blade sinking into the skin of her shoulder. If they were going to survive the night, then her friend would survive the wound, there was no use worrying over it now. The scary thing was, Rei considered the former a low possibility.

……………………….

The name Mila a Renos is completely made up. Well… sort of. What I mean is that if Mila, a, or Renos, are words in other languages or even really mean anything in English, that's not how I implied them. They're made up.

Why I didn't have Rei or Makoto transform is because of the simple fact that, in all honesty, it does take them a long time to transform, and with the speed of the Shinobi that I've created they wouldn't have the time to do their special naked ribbon dances. I'm just trying to make things more realistic, or rather, as realistic as they can get in Sailor Moon.

As for what this is a crossover with… that's a secret for now . I promise that new characters will show up soon, I just had to get this fight scene out there so I can explain more of the storyline over the characters.

MidnightOpal


	3. Horizontal Haunter

**Karma**

**_Chapter three: Horizontal Haunter_**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything in this story except for the story line itself.

Looking back over to their strange opponent, Rei put her thoughts on hold as she castigated them once again. It was weird, despite his sickening appearance Rei felt oddly at ease with this monstrous Shinobi. "You two wouldn't last one day in Mila a Renos. It's hard to believe the guardian picked you." It crossed its arms and stood tall, the hunch on its back disappearing as it stood now almost seven feet tall. "The third chosen," it continued, "would not survive one hour, if that."

It was now that Rei took the chance to glance over at Makoto. The girl was heaving and griping her arm like a lifeline, blood seeping through her clothes and tumbling over her fingers like spilled paint. Looking down at her own swollen, purple ankle she knew that the thing was utterly and completely correct. If Mila a Renos was where he was from, then they most certainly would die within one day. But… who was this third chosen that he spoke of?

Before she could ask, Makoto beat her to it. "Who ever said we were going to Mila a Renos?" she asked irately. "It doesn't even exist!" The thing threw something at Makoto and it hit her directly in the stomach, causing an 'oof' like sound to emit from her lips. Catching it before it hit the ground Makoto almost dropped it from shock and Rei could see the recognition in her eyes.In her hand was a wooden box almost bigger than her hand itself. There were small circles, half circles, and squares adorning in on unfathomably small puzzle like pieces. Looking up, she stared at the thing with immense annoyance and growled.

Gathering up her courage, knowing Makoto was about to launch into a futile battle, Rei spoke. "The third chosen?" was all she could manage as the thing turned its gaze from Makoto's annoyed face and bleeding arm, to her. For some reason now, it seemed to acknowledge her with respect as it glanced down at its charred arm. Looking back up at her it neither nodded nor shook its head. In fact, it didn't even respond for several more minutes.

"The one you call Mercury," it said as it crossed its arms, glancing almost angrily at the two, "go see her."

Makoto was almost shocked to hear him give them medical advice on wounds that he had inflicted upon them himself. At first she'd though that he was referring to Mercury as the supposed 'third chosen.' Perhaps he had, but her brain was on the fritz at the moment and her vision was beginning to blur. Grasping the box tighter she decided to join the conversation. "Who are you?" she asked as loud as she could, her voice raspy with pain. She noticed now that he'd dropped back into his deranged monkey like appearance, his hands brushing the floor and his head tilted to the side.

"I," he began, catching them off guard, "am not your enemy." This caused the Senshi to almost fall over from shock. "Your adversary is much stronger than I am myself." Looking back towards Makoto he spoke again. "I'll let you keep those papers. You're lucky you even have them."

Gulping, Makoto tried to keep a straight face but ended up looking like a hurt puppy dog. It was completely strange. Here's thisShinobi in an Oni mask, fighting them and throwing blades into her arm and twisting Rei's ankle, strangling her and trying to take the three papers within her boxers, yet giving them medical advice and telling them that he wasn't their enemy. He threw a fucking blade in her arm and he wasn't their enemy?

"You have six months before I return. Do something productive with your time."

Makoto was about to give a retort to his uncanny statement, when he whipped off the saya from his waist and threw something out at them, blinding their vision. Rei placed her arms up to defend her face from the sand that covered the creepy things' exit and harbored no desire to go after him to either fight, or ask questions. Doing so would get her absolutely nowhere.

Once the sand had cleared, Rei looked out at the empty roof and frowned. Her body was wet from falling into puddles, her ankle was twisted, and her friend was slowly losing blood right beside her. The Shinobi was gone, the only indication that he had even existed were deteriorating depressions distributed amongst the rooftop from their previous skirmish, and the pronounced, gaping hole that stuck out like a sunflower in a field of daisies, in which their opposition had made his unannounced entry through.

Turning and taking the anomalous cube from Makoto's drooping hands, Rei took her unharmed limb and tossed it over her shoulder, limping wearily towards the fire escape they had first come from.

Peering over at Makoto's laborious breaths she knew that the chokuto must have hit pretty deep. "Mako-chan, I don't want to take the blade out, we'll leave it in until we get to Ami's," she said as she climbed awkwardly down the stairs, the adrenaline loosing its rush and the pain pulsating brutally throughout her ankle. "Plus the police are bound to be here soon, there's no way any of those people are still asleep," Rei reminded as she peered up towards the roof once again. Gathering up her courage, and trying to ignore the persistent pain in her ankle, Rei proceeded to run down the stairs as silently as she could muster.

Giving a silent nod, unnoticed by her friend, Makoto gripped her bleeding arm and ran down the stairs after Rei, her steps unsteady as things in front of her continued to meld together like one big blob of color. Shaking her head she tried to focus on getting to Ami's house and ignoring the annoying pain in her left shoulder. She could do it, she'd done it once before when she'd given blood to Shinozaki, and plus, Ami's penthouse wasn't so far away from her own apartment.

Before her she could see Rei speaking hastily on her communicator, urging a sleepy looking Mercurian out of her bed and readying medical supplies. "I'll explain everything once we get there, but Mako-chan needs to be treated as a first priority. I can wrap my own ankle…yes Ami, it's fine, sorry about waking you so late— or early, rather." Rei continued her conversation until she mumbled, "Mars out," and shut her communicator.

The two reached the bottom of the fire escape, glass littering the ground in an appealing fashion, spread out like spilled jewels and glittering dully in the ebbing moonlight. The demolished door, however, ruined the whimsical moment and reminded Makoto that she was now in need of a new window as well as a replaced door. Not to mention a certain Shinobi that was to return in not but six months. Glaring at the dewed ground she wondered angrily to the Kami above, what she had done to deserve such a fate.

Lights shown at the end of the ally way, leading towards the Main Street, and Rei and Makoto flattened themselves against the brick walls littered with dumpsters. The revolting smell almost made Rei gag as the lights soon passed and the two injured Senshi continued on their way towards Ami's house. There's no need for any passerby to see two severely injured girls and ask what happened. Not to mention possible murderers and rapists that wouldn't hesitate to use the chokuto lodged in Makoto's shoulder.

Reaching the end of the ally, Rei glanced at her watch and a sardonic grin materialized, just notably, on her lips. It read '3:37' in bright florescent lights. That whole interaction had taken only half an hour. Looking around the two corners she saw that there was no one in sight and dashed across the glossy street, and through a back street that would lead them in the direction of Ami's penthouse. She glanced, unnoticed by her friend beside her, at Makoto's arm and mentally winced. There was no use showing the girl pity for she knew that, like herself, it was not an action Makoto liked to be regarded with.

Running as silently as they could the two soon approached the end of the street and turned right, seeing the lights of Ami's building in the distance. "Almost there, Mako-chan," Rei said as she noticed the girls' pasty white face. The perspiration running down the brunettes face looked like gloss on a ceramic statue. Beginning to feel worried, Rei glanced up ahead towards the building and let out a breath of relief as she saw Ami standing outside in a white sweater and a pair of loose blue pants.

………………………..

Despite her calm air, Ami looked disgruntled. She felt disgruntled. Her hair was a mess, probably a sign that the girl had been asleep when Rei had contacted her, but also she looked stressed. Bags hung beneath her eyes and she ran a hand through her short blue hair almost anxiously. Running a hand over the bridge of her nose she looked left and right, searching for her wounded friends.

Having to look through the morning fog didn't help at all and she felt strange standing outside alone. In fact, she was slightly scared. Besides the fact that the mist was supposed to put her nerves at ease, water being her main element and all, it seemed to acquire an eerie sort of touch. It was a veil of tiny molecules, a mesmerizing sideways rivulet easing in and out, in and out, in and out…

"Ami!" a harsh whisper cut through the air and Ami's distracted mind snapped to her right. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a truck as her blue eyes searched frantically for her friends' familiar face. Taking a hesitant step to her right, her head swiveled left and then right, not being able to see her friend behind the curtain of molecules. Again the voice came from her right. "Ami, over here!" Taking a step towards it, Ami tried to recognize any shape or shadow coming in from the deserted street. A grey, inscrutable shape began to form and Ami squinted, trying to interpret what the incessantly moving blob could possibly be.

Movinga shaky, cold hand forwards she reachedout to it when…

"—Ami!" A hand clasped her left shoulder and the Senshi of ice clasped her heart and gasped as she reflexively flung around only to come face to face with a disheveled looking Rei and an extremely pale Makoto. The latter was clutching her arm excruciatingly tight and Ami could see her obvious anguish in her hunched figure and squinting eyes. The frequent hisses of pain also noted her agonized state. She looked as if she were about to pass out.

Ami looked at them and then turned slowly to look back at the veil of mist that once hailed her attention. Squinting, she looked to where the grey blob had once been and frowned. She could have sworn she heard Rei's voice from her right, yet the girl had showed up to her left, completely catching her off guard. Not to mention scaring the crap out of her. But if that hadn't been Rei then…who or even, what had been calling her name before? Shaking her head, Ami tried to convince herself that it was her lack of sleep and the odd feelings she'd been having lately.

Without looking away from the curtain of mist, she placed her hand on Rei's shoulder and began to lead her two friends back towards her home. "Quick," she said, still not acknowledging Rei's confused face, "we have to get inside." Then, as an afterthought she added, "We have to bandage up Mako-chan."  
Turning away from the mystical calling, Ami pulled her friends hurriedly into her building.

……………………..

"Ouch!" Makoto hissed in pain. "Could you be any harsher, Ami-chan?" The brunette haired girl glanced down at herwounded arm, currently being bandagedand grimaced again in pain as Ami grasped her arm too tight. "Ami-chan!" she whispered in pain.

The smaller girl let out an odd sound of frustration and flung herself to the floor, running a quick hand through her short, unruly hair. Placing a hand to her forehead she pushed her bangs from eyes only to have the hair flop back over her blue irises. Sighing she apologized. "I'm sorry Mako-chan."

Makoto looked down to her close friend in worry. Ami wasn't usually this…out of it. She'd been like that even since they'd first gotten there. She hadn't even seen herself and Rei coming from her left. In fact, she'd been walking in the exact opposite direction. And then, to top it off, she'd rushed them inside, not for the sake of Makoto's bleeding arm, but she looked scared, like something had been calling her or even chasing her…

"I guess it's just been my sleep deprivation," she sighed tiredly, "and exams are coming up, and…and…" she sighed again and hung her head. "I don't know, I've been drinking a lot of coffee to stay up, it must be affecting my hands now or something…" All logical answers seemed to vanish from her mind as her hands, placed lightly on the carpet in front of her, seemed to become the most interesting thing in the room. "I really can't—,"

"Ami-chan," Makoto cut her off as she placed a hand on the girls head and slightly ruffled her hair. "I can read you like a book, girl. What's going on?"

Ami looked up to Makoto and ultimately wished she could be morel ike the taller girl. Makoto was much stronger than she was, she didn't take shit from anybody. If she were having the same weird feelings as Ami herself were feeling, then she'd probably have told off whatever entity that had been bugging Ami for the past week. Looking down Ami seemed to squint in sadness as belittling thoughts about herself plagued her mind. Makoto had big breasts and had grown into her curvy figure extremely well, as well as having a perfectly toned stomach that she could view easily right now for the girl was merely in a black and pink sports bra from Ami cutting off her shirt. She was even so bold as to pierce her belly button. While the other girl in the room, who was currently staring out of one of Ami's large penthouse windows, was the epitome of every mans dream of a sophisticated, beautiful woman. And who was she? A small mousy girl with short, floppy hair and plain blue eyes who buried herself in her books to escape the bluntnormality of the world.

Pushing her glasses up on her nose, Ami sat up on her knees and continued to work on Makoto's wound while the older girl looked down at her in worry. Stopping the smarter girl from bandaging her arm, Makoto looked down at Ami with slightly hurt eyes. "Ami-chan," she began, "What's bothering you? You know you can tell me anything, right?"

Ami opened her mouth to speak but clamped her mouth shut quickly as all admirable thoughts about her brunette friend vanished. Was Makoto trying to be the big sister here? Was she trying to make Ami seem like a little girl who couldn't deal with her own issues? She didn't need Makoto's pity, in fact, she didn't need anything from the former brute and hardly wanted to give the girl the satisfaction of being the heroine within the story. It was strange how she could have such admiring thoughts about the girl at one moment, and then when she tries to help, immediately figures her out to be the villain. Trying to shove her confusing thoughts away,Ami was about to tell Makoto off when Rei's voice interrupted the confession that was about to spill from the brainy girls' lips.

"You managed to wake up Usagi, Minako and Mamoru?" came Rei's slightly caustic tone from by the window.

Ami turned, confused. "I called Mamoru and told him to wake them, yes, but how did you— oh dear…"

Swinging outside of Ami's window were Tuxedo Kamen, who was hanging onto a rope for his dear life while Sailor Moon latched onto one of his legs, wailing like the baby Rei branded her as, and Sailor Venus, clutching Tuxedo Kamen's other leg, flashing her trademark 'V for victory' sign.

Sighing, Rei placed a hand to her forehead as her eye began to twitch. "Odango atama…" she mumbled as Ami got up and opened her window, taking out the screen so that the three jumbled super hero's could fit through. Tuxedo Kamen let Sailor Moon tumble clumsily into Ami's apartment first, who promptly fell on her butt and winced, but didn't cry as she began to wipe the tears that had once been on her face, off of her cheeks. Still gripping the rope for his dear life, Tuxedo Kamen let Sailor Venus glide into Ami's apartment gracefully and flip her long blonde hair over her shoulder dramatically. Shelooked down at Sailor Moon with devilish eyes, mentally telling the girl 'that's how it's done,' which just caused a waterfall of tears to come spilling out from her princess' eyes and rude comments to slip from her lips. Tuxedo Kamen then allowed himself the privilege of entering Ami's humble abode on his own accord and swung into the room, landing on all fours and letting the rope drop several feet down to the street below.

"What an entrance," Rei spat at Usagi as the superhero clad girl stuck out her tongue, thus ensuing a battle of stubborn egos.

Makoto, however, did not look towards the scene and Ami could feel her gaze burninginto the back of her head, as if trying to penetrate all of her barriers. It was making the Senshi of ice uncomfortable and she dearly wanted Makoto to stop trying to make her feel better.

"Ami…" she heard from behind her, and acted quickly by sticking up her finger as if a light bulb appeared above her head.

"I'll get you some iron pills, Mako-chan!" she said loudly as to draw Usagi's attention to the wounded girl. Ami then disappeared into the bathroom of her apartment.

……………………………

Wow, haha I didn't think I'd be so into this story. The chapters are just flowing out of my head like… a waterfall or something. Well here's another quick update : ) I hope you all like. Oh, and I promise you'll know the crossover in the next chapter. In fact, I don't even know why I'm keeping it a secret. Goodness, my mind has been all jumbled lately! In fact, I might as well tell you right now what the crossover is, but since it's going to be in the next chapter I guess you'll just have to wait and see then.

What the hell am I doing?

I have no idea.

I think this heat wave is getting to me.

MidnightOpal


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